Chapter 5 - COLTON'S VERSION
Colton asked to meet Casey alone.
She refused.
Then agreed with lawyers present.
They sat in a conference room with glass walls and no family photographs.
That helped.
Colton looked terrible.
Unshaven.
Red-eyed.
Older than thirty-seven.
“I didn’t know Dana was going to hurt Mom.”
Casey stared.
“You watched her get arrested.”
“I panicked.”
“You told police Mom went crazy.”
“I panicked.”
“You let them cuff her.”
He started crying.
“I know.”
Casey felt something dangerous inside herself.
Not sympathy.
Memory.
Colton at nine years old hiding behind her during thunderstorms.
Colton at seventeen calling her from jail after a stupid bar fight.
Colton at twenty-six asking her to be best woman at his wedding because “you’ve always been both sister and backup parent.”
She hated that those memories still existed.
“What happened that night?”
Colton looked at his attorney.
Then answered.
Dana brought a deed amendment.
Margaret refused.
Dana yelled.
Margaret tried to call Casey.
Dana grabbed the phone.
Margaret reached for it.
Dana seized both of Margaret’s arms.
Margaret pulled away.
Fell against the kitchen counter.
Colton froze.
Casey’s jaw tightened.
“And then?”
“Mom said she was calling police.”
“Good.”
“Dana said if police came, we’d lose everything.”
“What does that mean?”
Colton closed his eyes.
The $247,000.
Most of it was gone.
His renovation company was failing.
Dana had credit-card debt.
The line of credit had plugged both.
If Margaret challenged the deed, the bank could investigate the loan.
Fraud would surface.
Dana called Chief Enzo first.
Not 911.
Enzo told her:
“If Margaret is the aggressor, everything becomes a family conflict instead of financial exploitation.”
Casey went very still.
“Did you hear him say that?”
“Yes.”
“Directly?”
“He was on speaker.”
That was enormous.
Colton continued.
Enzo instructed Dana to call 911, report an assault, and say Margaret had become confused and violent over “estate planning.”
Then Enzo came to the house before the responding officers finished.
He pulled Colton aside.
“What did he say?”
Colton cried.
“He said Mom would cool off overnight and we could fix the paperwork in the morning.”
Casey stared at her brother.
“You traded Mom’s freedom for one more night.”
Colton broke.
“Yes.”
She did not forgive him.
May you like
But she believed him.
Enough to let the evidence decide the rest.
